An Office Worker Is Good At Exorcism - Chapter 213

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 212
Part 3. A Hellish Time (2)
The engine roared.
Inside the speeding car, I became acutely aware of Baekseol sitting in the passenger seat.
How long had we been driving?
Glancing at the clock, it had already passed midnight.
‘Please….’
My thoughts multiplied until my mouth ran dry.
No matter how much I increased the speed, no matter how many winding roads I navigated, this anxiety in my heart refused to subside.
Because I knew.
That even now, the Vengeful Spirit continued to roam.
The engine roared.
“Speed limit enforcement zone ahead.”
“Tch!”
I exhaled sharply and lifted my foot from the accelerator.
Yet the navigation’s warning light didn’t fade easily.
Clicking my tongue softly, I moved my foot to the brake, and the car’s speed decreased.
That was when it happened.
Woof!
Baekseol, who had been silent until now, let out a sharp bark.
In that instant, I checked if there were any cars following, then reduced my speed even further.
As the speed dropped from the 60-kilometer limit to 20 kilometers, Baekseol’s head turned toward the rear.
As if telling me that where we needed to go was in that direction.
‘Where?’
I quickly shifted my gaze to the navigation.
The speed enforcement zone had passed, and the warning light was off, but there was nothing particularly visible where Baekseol was looking.
That didn’t mean there was a reason not to go there.
The engine roared.
Slowing further, I pulled the car onto the shoulder.
I quickly got out, and Baekseol followed, standing beside me.
Woof, woof, woof!
A cool night breeze blew across us.
My hair fluttered, but there were no traffic lights or streetlights nearby—no shadows cast.
The only light came from the distant glow of the city far away.
Standing motionless on the dark road, I stared in the direction Baekseol continued to bark.
“Over there?”
Woof!
As I turned my gaze to Baekseol, the fur on her back stood on end.
She had definitely sensed something, and it would be deeply connected to the Vengeful Spirit.
It wasn’t far.
Kang Hyung-seok grabbed his backpack from the car and called out to Baekseol.
“Let’s go! Take the lead!”
-Woof!
Following Baekseol as she bounded forward with confidence, Kang Hyung-seok began running down the road.
Grooooowwwl!
A dump truck rumbled past with a heavy roar, and for a brief moment, his gaze met the driver’s.
He knew it well.
How strange this must appear.
How suspicious it might look.
But there was a reason he had to run down this road in the dead of night.
-Woof woof woof woof!
Baekseol, who had been running tirelessly, suddenly hurled herself toward the roadside vegetation.
It was a densely overgrown area, thick with cobwebs coated in settled dust mixed with exhaust fumes.
Without hesitation, he followed her in, and Baekseol barked urgently for him to keep up, leading the way.
Crackle, crackle!
Pushing aside long-neglected branches with his hands as he ran, he pressed his lips firmly together.
There were flying insects, and the acrid stench of illegally dumped garbage nearby assaulted his respiratory system.
But the primary reason was a different smell.
The scent of the dead.
A distinctive odor commonly found at ancient sites was emanating from this place.
-Woof woof woof!
Finally, Baekseol stopped and circled the area, barking incessantly.
Kang Hyung-seok halted, breathing heavily, and surveyed his surroundings.
‘An empty lot…?’
Or rather, an ancient site.
It was a vast expanse, and the distant, multicolored city lights seemed unusually close.
Kang Hyung-seok understood why Baekseol had reacted to this place.
A village must have existed here in the past.
“So you are Sammokkgu after all.”
-Woof woof!
A spiritual creature.
Some call it a god.
Sammokkgu’s three eyes pierce through darkness, perceiving what humans cannot see, tracking and discovering it.
For this reason, Sammokkgu has long been regarded as an entity that drives away malevolent things.
“You found it.”
He spoke as though exhaling, but Baekseol neither barked nor moved, her gaze fixed intently on a single point.
As if to say she had fulfilled her role by guiding him this far.
Then the rest was Kang Hyung-seok’s responsibility.
Ziiip.
Kang Hyung-seok opened his backpack and retrieved the Shaman’s Bell, then took a deep breath before speaking.
“Guided by the Three Shamans to reach this place, I humbly beseech the divine spirits to hear this disciple’s prayer.”
Warang!
“A Vengeful Spirit has emerged from the earth—I ask that you grant me the power to find it and bring it peace.”
Waralang!
As the ringing of the Shaman’s Bell grew louder, Kang Hyung-seok’s voice grew softer.
Shweeek!
From the distant road, the sound of vehicles cutting through the air reached his ears.
The distant city’s night glow blazed with light, as if belonging to another world entirely.
In the silent, quiet, and dark empty lot, only my incantations began to fill the space.
“When the celestial deities and divine spirits bestow their power upon this spirit-medium disciple.”
This was not a prayer requesting annihilation.
This was a prayer beseeching the gods and spirits for their divine power.
“May the divine spirits descend and aid this spirit-medium disciple.”
Waralang!
“For the Jade Emperor’s command grants the divine spirits the authority to guide all matters of this world.”
Departing the celestial palace where gods dwell, having received the Jade Emperor’s decree.
Offering their forms to the place where the Big Dipper dwells.
After dwelling briefly upon Wolbong Mountain, they descended to this earth to aid humanity’s lives and bestow blessings.
“Devoted to the divine spirits, commanding the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, enshrined before the Underworld’s Judges, receiving orders from the Eight Great Vajras, Four Great Bodhisattvas, and Three Honored Ones—I, this spirit-medium disciple, have been born.”
With the wisdom of the Hetu and Luoshu and the principles of the sixty-four hexagrams, perceiving the logic of heaven and the topography of earth.
“Appearing as flowers and leaves to all sentient beings and humanity, granting the merit of saving lives—I, this spirit-medium disciple, have come forth. May all wishes be fulfilled.”
Waralang!
The incantation had ended.
The surrounding landscape began to transform.
Kang Hyung-seok, his hand holding the Shaman’s Bell extended outward, shifted his gaze toward a single point where a form was gradually becoming visible.
***
Despite the late hour, Kim Jae-sik could not fall asleep.
Wearing large-framed glasses, he furrowed his brow deeply as he tapped the tablet screen with his thumb.
‘Yeolnyeo, Yeolnyeo….’
He was searching for any information related to the Yeolnyeo-gak in the photograph Kang Hyung-seok had sent.
Yet no matter how much he searched, nothing appeared.
“Sigh.”
Kim Jae-sik removed his glasses and rubbed his weary eyes.
The absence of information, no matter how thoroughly he searched, was a sorrowful thing.
‘It seems to have been deliberately erased….’
The Yeolnyeo-gak discovered beneath the earth appeared to have been meticulously hidden from the world.
The more he pondered it, the more only terrible scenarios came to mind.
‘A fabricated Yeolnyeo….’
It was not a common occurrence.
Yet it was not unheard of either.
Even with the strict penalties in the Daeming Code—the law of the Joseon Dynasty—for those who took a life, and despite intentional murder being treated as a grave crime, there were documented cases.
‘The Yeolnyeo-gak that emerged from the earth….’
Kim Jae-sik pressed his eyes shut even more firmly.
A terrible tale seemed to flicker before his vision.
***
Flutter, flutter.
The curtains swayed in the wind.
Lee Jun-sang, his breath stolen away, lay sprawled upon the bed with his eyes never closing, while the Vengeful Spirit stood motionless, her eyes bloodshot and fixed.
Her gaze was directed toward a framed photograph hanging on the wall.
Grind, grind, grind.
The Vengeful Spirit gnashed her teeth as she stared at the figure in the frame.
It was a family photograph of Lee Jun-sang.
Lee Jun-sang stood smiling, and before him sat a young couple—his daughter and son-in-law.
Children sat upon the laps of the daughter and son-in-law.
A family photograph that appeared happy.
The Vengeful Spirit, who had been watching them, clawed at her own face.
Screech.
It was as her skin tore beneath fingernails caked with earth, blood streaming down.
Whip!
She turned her head, her eyes wide and fierce as she glared out the window.
Then, with her severed tongue, she let out a hoarse murmur.
“…Jin-i.”
***
“Jin-i.”
Kang Hyung-seok murmured the name of the woman before him.
It was a name derived from the azalea flower, and she had no family name.
The daughter of a commoner.
She was only twelve years old.
And though it was her wedding day, her parents were nowhere to be found.
No one to offer congratulations, no husband present, not a single friend.
“What are you doing! Get inside at once!”
Under the sharp gaze of her mother-in-law, the small girl Jin-i clutched her meager bundle and shuffled forward hesitantly.
‘How fortunate to marry into a yangmin household.’
‘They are good people, so married life won’t be too difficult.’
She had heard these words countless times, but she had known the truth from the beginning.
She was being sold.
No matter how much they said she was marrying into a yangmin family, she had heard nothing about the man who would be her husband.
Would he be a cripple with a bent spine?
Or perhaps a simpleton who drooled constantly?
Every night she had suppressed her desire to flee in terror.
She feared it might bring harm to her parents.
Creak.
After Jin-i climbed onto the wooden floor and carefully opened the door—
“Ugh!”
The acrid stench of infected blood startled her, and her eyes and mouth flew open.
Lying in the room was a man whose entire body was ravaged and rotting.
A fully grown man lay on the floor with blood-soaked cloth covering his nose and mouth, staring at Jin-i.
‘A… a leper!’
Leprosy.
Known by other names: Hansen’s disease.
A vile affliction where living flesh decays and rots as if the person were already a corpse.
In this era, the false belief in its strong contagiousness meant even breathing filled her with dread.
Thud!
As Jin-i collapsed, her face drained of all color, the woman who had become her mother-in-law shoved her back roughly.
“Ahhh!”
Thrust suddenly into the room, she spun around to see her mother-in-law closing the door.
Click!
The door shut from outside, and a rice spoon was wedged through the latch, trapping Jin-i inside.
Boom, boom, boom!
“P-please! Open the door! Please open it!”
Jin-i screamed in panic, but the only response was a shrill voice.
“Now that you’ve married into this house, you must consummate the union with your husband! How dare you act so shamefully, you baseborn creature! Is this how your parents raised you!”
Jin-i’s slender shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
Tears welled up so thickly that she could barely see ahead.
“Mother, Mother!”
Fear unleashed a torrent of tears.
As Jin-i wiped them away with the back of her hand, a hole tore through the paper door, and a pair of eyes as terrifying as a malevolent spirit’s bore into her.
It was the Mother-in-law’s gaze—watching to see whether the bond between husband and wife would be sealed or broken.
“Waaaah! Aaaah!”
Jin-i collapsed to the ground, sobbing bitterly.
Yet beyond the paper door, the Mother-in-law continued to glare at her with murderous intensity, hurling curses that bordered on incantations.
Words so chilling and sinister that one could scarcely imagine them directed at a young girl.
“…Sigh.”
Kang Hyung-seok, who had witnessed all of this, gazed at Jin-i with sorrowful eyes.
It was horrifying.
Utterly horrifying and cruel.
Yet the Vengeful Spirit he had encountered was not in the body of a girl.
She had been an adult.
‘Was this where it began for you?’
Jin-i had become the Vengeful Spirit only after reaching adulthood.
Hell had only just begun.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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